Cole’s French Dip, a downtown Los Angeles icon since 1908, is closing on August 3, 2025. After 117 years of carving roast beef and pouring Old Fashioneds, the historic saloon is calling it quits.
It made it through two world wars, Prohibition, the Great Depression, and even COVID.
What finally did it in? A tangle of modern policies, high costs, and declining urban conditions.
The oldest restaurant in L.A. announced it will close its doors after 117 years.
Cole’s, which survived the Great Depression, two World Wars, & a pandemic, is a victim of the same factors that led to the recent demise of other historic L.A. restaurants.
Let’s get into it. pic.twitter.com/zRygTIEw3C
— L.A. in a Minute (@LaInaMinute) July 8, 2025
The closure isn’t due to lack of customers. Cole’s had a loyal base. It’s not about bad food or poor service, either. By all accounts, the French dip still held up.
The real issue, according to the owners, was a slow grind of unmanageable challenges: rising labor and rent costs, never-ending red tape, fallout from the pandemic, and a downtown that’s become harder to navigate safely or cleanly.
When the staff has to start each morning clearing human waste off the doorstep, something’s gone off track.
This isn’t just about one restaurant. It’s a case study in what happens when basic governance breaks down.
Cole’s sits in the heart of Los Angeles, a city with immense potential, yet it’s being strangled by high taxes, bloated regulations, and lenient crime policies.
We’re not talking about bad luck or market forces here. We’re talking about choices – political ones.
Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom have both promoted policies they say help workers and the disadvantaged, but the results on the ground tell a different story.
Businesses are closing, neighborhoods are hollowing out, and residents are increasingly uneasy about walking downtown after dark.
It’s not just Cole’s. The Pantry, Mandarin Deli, and countless other long-standing eateries have quietly disappeared.
Cities don’t stay great just because they once were. They stay great when leaders prioritize law, order, and opportunity.
When a business with 117 years of goodwill and cultural clout can’t make it, who the hell can?
The value of local heritage doesn’t lie in simple nostalgia. These places deserve respect for the hard work, consistency, and community trust built over decades. Cole’s wasn’t just slinging sandwiches. It was a place where writers scribbled notes, cops grabbed a late bite, and generations marked life’s moments.
Change is inevitable. Cities evolve. But when evolution looks like rising crime, vanishing small businesses, and sidewalks that smell like something died under them, we’re not moving in the right direction.
This isn’t about pining for the past. It’s about fighting for the future.
A future where places like Cole’s don’t get swept under the rug because city hall can’t manage the basics. Safety. Affordability. Simplicity in doing business.
The bar is literally on the floor, but it feels like our government would rather use our money to dig a hole under it rather than simply step over.
The closing of Cole’s French Dip should trigger some serious reflection about the policies shaping our cities. If we want vibrant downtowns, we can’t keep chasing away the very institutions that make them worth visiting.
Cole’s survived the 20th century. It couldn’t survive what the 21st is becoming. That should worry us all.
This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
